Did you know birds and squirrels are capable of damaging your roof?
Your neighborhood birds and squirrels have the potential to damage the roof of your home. In addition to keeping up with them, you also need to keep an eye on the home’s regular maintenance because hail damage is not not the only thing you need to consider when thinking about maintenance of your home and your roof.
While we usually associate roof damages with hailstorms or leaks, it’s important to know that other critters can also create a world of trouble. We are a roofing company and we want you to know that birds can create a serious risk when they use your home’s roof.
The following are the top types of damage birds can do if you let them.
Birds can Create Corrosion on Your Roof Shingles
If you have bird feeders in your front/back yard, you’re inviting birds on your house. While that may be beautiful, beware of bird droppings on your roof.
Bird droppings are very acidic and can eat away at roofing material and cause leaks if they are allowed to accumulate on your roof. Bird droppings can easily burn away protective coatings—causing roofing shingles to lose granules and curl. In some cases this acid allows moisture to seep beneath the top layer of your roof.
Bird droppings are hard to spot if you aren’t specifically looking for them. Worse yet, they are hard to remove.
If your roof is damaged due to bird droppings, the best course of action will be to replace your damaged shingles as soon as possible. Prevention however is better than a cure. Make certain there are no branches or other perches hanging over your roof. This will reduce the potential for your roof to collect bird droppings since birds are prone to depositing droppings while sitting on perches.
Birds Bring Risk of Condensation Related Roof Damage
Bird nests in your roof vents can cause condensation which can lead to roof damage. A nest in vent areas will block air flow from your attic causing moisture laden vapor to not flow out of your house. The more the vapor is stymied the more it condenses on attic surfaces and then it begins to cause moisture damage.
Worse still when a bird builds a nest in your chimney or heating vent — problems with smoke and carbon monoxide back-flow and even fire can occur. This poses a serious risk.
It is a smart idea to take birds around your house seriously. Do not allow them to build nests on your roof.
Birds can Damage Your Gutters
While visiting birds can add beauty to your yard you don’t want them building their nests in your gutters, drains and the roof corners of your home. Gutters are a favorite place for them to build nests.
The problem with nests in gutters is they block the flow of water and cause back-ups of the gutters. This creates two roof risks:
- Water builds up and can soak into your roof edge and surrounding materials, causing water damage.
- When channel is blocked due to a nest and water is accumulates rather than running off, this can add a massive weight the gutter wasn’t designed to handle. That can cause structural damage to your gutter system and damage to the edges of your roof.
Birds can Cause Structural Damage
This is not a very common issue but if birds are frequently on your property, you may end up struggling with this.
Have you heard about woodpeckers!
While woodpeckers normally peck trees to look for insects, they also use this ability when looking for a mate to call females. Male woodpeckers may find your roof a suitable surface to create loud noises for potential mates. The surfaces most likely to be used are your chimney and vents. This can cause roof damage.
Remember, any critter actually digging into your roof materials (beneath your roofing shingles) to look for bugs will cause damage to your roof. You need to look out for such harmful critters and keep them away from your roof.
Here are a few steps you can take to prevent or minimize the damage birds and squirrels can cause to your home.
Roof Protection Tip #1 – Keep Birds Away
While birds can add beauty to your yard, you don’t want them around your house all the time because of the risks discussed.
You need to keep an eye out for signs of nesting around your property, particularly in the spring. If you’ve had problems with birds nesting in your home in the past, you’ll want to especially vigilant in those areas.
Some bird species can build a nest in as little as one to two days. Be certain to check your gutters regularly and install vent and chimney covers to prevent birds from accessing your ventilation systems.
Roof Protection Tip #2 – Don’t Take Squirrels Lightly
Bird feeders attract not just birds, but also squirrels who are most likely stealing your bird seed. You need to be cognizant of the fact that squirrels can damage your house and your roof.
Squirrels’ teeth grow constantly throughout their lives and the only way to keep them trimmed is by chewing on hard materials. This includes the materials on and around your home.
Squirrels can eat away at your siding and trim board, as well as your roof’s shingles. That makes your house susceptible to moisture damage. In most houses electric cables run through the attic, the bottom side of the roof. Squirrels can and will chew through these cables if they can access them.
One way to keep squirrels away from your house is to apply a repellent to siding and vent areas to inhibit squirrels from chewing on them. Keep tree limbs trimmed back and far away from your house. This helps to prevent squirrels from easily accessing your roof.
Squirrels breed twice a year – in the late winter/early spring and late summer/early fall. You definitely do not want to see them starting a family in or around your home or attic. If you let them in you’re inviting a lot of trouble.
We hope we have given you enough insight into the damage that birds and squirrels can cause to your roof. We hope you learned what you can do to stop them from damaging your roof and your home. If you discover that squirrels or birds have invaded your house, contact a wildlife control professional immediately.
If you suspect that you roof has been damaged from bird or squirrel activity and you live in the DFW area, email us at info@honestroof.com or call us toll-free at 1-817-HONEST-1 and we will work with you to resolve your roof damage related issues immediately.